Traverse Theatre – Cambridge Street

9^th – 11^th October £16

7.30pm

Enthral and intrigue pepper this evening’s anticipation as the audience settle down for this unique and individual performance of White Rabbit, Red Rabbit ; a ground breaking and challenging theatrical experiment by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour. Unable to leave his native country due to his stance as a conscientious objector, he chooses instead to travel the world figuratively, by delivering his play worldwide through some of the biggest names in theatre and film, and proposing some profound and radical questions along the way.

The actor for this evening, Siobhan Redmond, accomplished both on stage and screen, is given the daunting task of having had no direction or rehearsals nor any glimpse of the script. She reveals the script for the first time from a sealed envelope on a stage reminiscent of some dark Shakespearean production, devoid of props, sparse and minimal, leaving everything to the acting and imagination.

Siobhan Redmond

Audience members are plucked randomly to join her on the sparse stage where we are encouraged to explore and consider profound, surreal and often poignant ideas, punctuated with wit and comedy, through the narrator of Solemanpour’s absent form. He explains his ability to taste and explore the cities he has dreamt about, to sit with the audience and discuss his concepts, communicating through time and space by virtue of his play. This is his means of connecting with the world he has been banned from exploring by the confines of the circus he is captive within. But his metaphorical connection with the world allows exploration, transcending both time and space, of the concepts of conformity, pacifism, obedience and control.

Is he still alive? He is talking to us onstage and the possibilities are there to be explored, but we are left with the answers ringing through our ears in the fashion of a Greek tragedy. Forever reliant on an improvisational, dynamic actor to maintain the fluidity, Siobhan Redmond does not fail to deliver with her effortless and charismatic storytelling abilities and sharp-witted narrative. This is a highly entertaining and interesting theatrical piece from an intelligent playwright which challenges some difficult social concepts. FOUR STARS

Reviewer Teri Welsh

Sunset Song Tues 7th-Saturday 11th October Kings Theatre, Edinburgh 7pm. £14 – £27.50

Most of us are familiar with Sunset Song, compulsory reading material for a lot of us in school, and yet undoubtedly one of the all time Scottish classics. As I took my seat among a gaggle of teenagers on a school trip it reminded me of my first encounter with this book. It is the story of a farming community in the North East of Scotland at the turn of the century, and in particular the life of one woman, Chris Guthrie. Unlike most of those around her, she escapes into books, and dares to dream of a life outside of the one she was born into.  The story deals with the bleak life and hard toil of the farming folks during this time, and reveals the choices, or lack of them, for woman living in this dreich, relentless landscape.  And yet intertwined in the lives of these ordinary people are tales of love and duty, heroics and cruelty, and all the while the enduring nature of the land.  We witness in one lifetime the changing faces of a family, a community, and ultimately a culture, as the Great War arrives and in it’s wake rips apart this simple way of life forever.

This adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s novel takes on a raw challenge and delivers it with a subtle honesty, faithful to the story and the lyrical doric language that portrays this unique place in time. The performance of Rebecca Elise as Chris is captivating, as indeed are the performances of all of the cast.  Together they seamlessly weave scenes and years into an epic performance, punctuated by traditional song and curlew call, that carry this story through the years. This is a powerful and well delivered depiction of an individual and of a community living through a turbulent and  transformative period in Scotland’s history.  Enduring hope and a realisation of the inevitability of change are the recurrent themes, and is repeated throughout, ‘Nothing endures but the land’. FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Glenda Rome

THE TRAVERSE THEATER

Tue 7 Oct – Sat 11 Oct 1pm
(additional 7pm performance on Fri, 10 Oct)

£12 – includes a pie and a pint of beer / glass of wine / fruit juice / tea or coffee

Hell hath no fury like a mentally unbalanced pyromanic chick, whose perfect life has been torn apart by a hotter, younger TV weathergirl. Written by the talented, young theatrical Scottish polymath, Lesley Hart, FLAME PROOF tells the story of a curious 3AM meeting in a wedding marquee. The part of Lyssa,  the dumped harpy, is played out to perfection by an extremely confident & funny Michelle Gallacher, into whose vengeance scheme rolls a drunken Buddy (Billy Mack), the elder brother of the aforementioned TV weathergirl.

Buddy soon works out Lyssa’s true reasons for being at the wedding, & there follows an excellent 50 gossipy minutes of to-ing & fro-ing, fencing between various moods as our two players bound through Hart’s cheeky script. It was also pleasant to be immersed in a play which focuses on the psychological nature of its adherents, a wee little Hamlet in the afternoon. Talking about Shakespeare, there was also a nice slice of a Comedy of Errors, which saw the two players cross-dressing in order to act out Lyssa’s phantasy wedding.

 @The Lochgelly Centre

Yesterdays Mumble mission was a trip back in time to a not too distant past. Two notable events in history that shaped the need for disobedience to the capitalist elite, that were hell bent on making the common man suffer without a voice.

I left school in 1983, while Thatcher was reigning her tyranny of political terrorism on Northern English, Welsh and The Scottish working classes. A time when unions had a voice and the fabric of British industry was being dismantled. In 1984 the miners strike began, a long and fraught stand to protect the lives and livelihoods that they had only ever known. There were no winners, but they did make a stand, that will resonate as an historical statement forever more. 

Rebellion was a key factor in this play. Written in 1924 by Joe Corrie, as a social statement to the conditions of hardship experienced by the first wave of Industrial Action, when the common man took a stand against the corporate machine that wanted people to work longer hours for less pay. to protect corporate profits from slipping. 

This modern take on the play is set in Lochgelly itself, & could not be any more than disturbing because of its subject matter. Poverty, sickness and dissent are key issues that are explored while in them selves represent human suffering and the fight against oppression. A message that drives home the true nature of Socialism and what the Labor movement was initially intended. To convey the voice of the common man to the elite, that were enjoying the profits of the harsh conditions, that were experienced by men who worked in the local coal mines, mining coal in dangerous and unhealthy conditions.

Now. Imagine this brilliant social statement, turned into an all dancing musical. With a Rock n Roll band sat in the back ground. (Electric guitars in 1924?). Joe Carries brilliant poetry translated well into this contemporary performance of Rock N Roll, while the dancing and choreography was also excellent. However, for me an already complex script became even more complex and difficult as a result, & somewhere along the line, something got lost in translation. Stillm ‘In Time O’ Strife, is being performed at The Traverse Theater,’ Tue 9th to Sat 13th of September… then nationally…

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Summerhall

August 23rd

What a charming play this really is, a blend of physical theater & a snappy dialogue that shows the menial sufferings of womanhood. Six vacuum cleaners litter the stage, & are subsequently used to create scenery about which the cast of three women relay their tale. Touching themes such as contraception & cleaning, they recite the script in stagger’d unison, & even use clips from 1954’s film Johnny Guitar in a surreal sidestep through the show.

The play has been brought to Edinburgh by Cambridge-based 30 Bird, an internationally minded group who collaborate with artists and practitioners from as varied a background as the UK, Iran, Germany, Italy, Poland, India, Japan and Turkey. This particular play touches Islamic marriage, & is deliver’d with a certain, surreal charm. Its a shame I saw it so it so late in the run, butr if the play is coming to your neck in the woods in the future, I thoroughly recommend a watch.

Reviewer : Damo Bullen

The Spiegeltent, St Andrews Square

21-24 August

22.00

I have followed La Clique’s magnificent conception of ground-breaking performance art since 2004, from The Adelaide Fringe to George Square Gardens as part of The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, the Spiegel’s former Edinburgh Fringe mainstay. Before Assembly so rudely stole the idea and concept, replicating it under their own banner and making this show homeless in Edinburgh in 2011. La Clique resurfaced in the newly housed Spiegeltent on George St in 2012 and 2013. Now located in St Andrews Square, with a back drop that resembles Glastonbury Festivals winning art project.,Bloc 9,  La Clique has landed at long last, two weeks into the Fringe. With a Cabaret Review that lives up to the Royal Variety Show standards that we have become accustomed to. Yes, The Pole Dancers have arrived, after having been stuck in Kiev. A late addition to proceedings & well worth the wait.

Although slightly more expensive than other Fringe shows, the price represents value for money because of the exquisite and original performances of world class Cabaret. Breathtaking and athletically acrobatic,  with enough eye-candy to satisfy, astonish and turn on the most critical of Bohemians. Thirteen individual performances that deserve an independent review (a  work currently in progress which will be an exclusive to The Mumble.net… Divine has friends in high places). My only critique of this spectacular show is the rude, arrogant nature of the magician who insulted a member of the audience for laughs. (Bring Back Paul Zennon)

A show that doesn’t buckle under its own weight of ambition,
La Clique doesn’t need good press, its reputation as the greatest show on Earth ensures a capacity audience. If you are going to treat yourself or are looking for entertainment, then La Clique cannot fail to entertain. I believe the show is sold out, but some tickets are available on the door Book in advance.You will be pleased that you did.

This would have been a deserved 5 Star performance, had the magician not lowered the tone with rude and insulting comedy, scraping the barrel for laughs and detracting from the exceptional quality that is so skillfully represented in La Clique. FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Gilded Balloon

21-24 August

£6-£8

11.15

The remit of Story Pocket Theatre, set up in 2013, is to keep classic stories alive & to perform them with as much beauty as possible – & this hour-long version of ‘ One Thousand & One Nights’ & certainly realises their dream. Like Chaucer’s Cantebury Tales, & Bocaccio’s Decameron, the Persian One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of stories held together loosely by an over-plot. In this case the ruler Shahryār has ordered the execution of his wife, Scheherazade, who delays this event by telling him a story every night.

In this version, our three cast members skip across the stage, move scenery, change coustumes & alter voices in such a pleasant & dreamy fashion, there is nothing but a positive energy in the room. The timelessness of several of these classic tales is brought to life, the highlight I believe is the tale of the Little Beggar, into which is introduced a puppet. Next comes the more famous tale of Aladdin, after which the show ends with a moment of touching beauty, as the king & his queen are reunited as two sillouhetted puppets.

As I was leaving the theater, I heard a young boy say to his dad, ‘Thats the best one I’ve seen so far.’ I could not help but agree, which really tipped the balance for me when awarding the stars. I loved it, the kid-in-me loved it, & the word on the street with the other kids is thats its brilliant, so here’s a happy FIVE STARS

–

Reviewer : Damo Bullen

Summerhall

20 – 24 Aug 2014

A16.20

£5

When one man can command the intensity of the theatrical experience just by flexing his sinewey muscles,  we must find ourselves at the Parnassian peak of physical theater. Nicola Pianzola, of the experimental Instabili Vaganti company of Bologna, is just that man, & his hour of incantantion-like speech & gymanastic movements is nothing but a piece of pefect drama.

The Ilva works – Taranto

The story he tells is that of the posionous effects of the ever-polutant-belching Ilva steel works in Taranto, southernmost Italy, whose dioxin emittants have simply murdered many locals. Layers of black & red powder covers every pavement in the town, glittering in the gutters, & it is in such a sandy bedsoil that ‘Made in Ilva’ has its roots.

Cue a desperate & work-addicted Pianzola watching his friends die around him, & delivering the translated script with a stylish panache which belies his non-English nationality. A mini-modern classic that drives a needle into the nerves. FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Damo Bullen

Underbelly Cowgate

Aug 19, 21, 23

15.30

£9-£10

I am pleased to say that I have reviewed some magnificent examples of performance art since I have been writing for the Mumble. So, it is fair to say that this ill-informed play on the trauma of becoming an Orphan has buckled under its own ambition. It was also far too short. It was this level of armature dramatics that I had been expecting from the off-set this Fringe. Thank goodness this was the exception and not the rule.

Were the cast suffering hang overs? I mean whats the rush. The  venue didn’t help things, as the sound of Sunday revelers in The Cowgate distracted what attention span I had from trying to fathom my way through this play, which I assume can only be a work in progress. Good in parts but not fully formed. 2 Stars!

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert